Rolling partition or closure



Marh"24, 1931. .1. CAHQILL 1,797,321

ROLLING PARTITION 0R- CLOSURE Filed J1me 1923. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 24, 1931.-

J. CAHILL 1,797,321

ROLLING PARTITION OR CLOSURE Filed June 18 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "III I nvwm Jofin 60/7/7/ Patented Mar. 24, 1931 era JP QFFIC JOHN, 'CAHILL, or NORFOLK, VIRGINIA ROLLING PARTITION on oLosURn Application filed June 18, 1923. Serial No.' 64=6,1 93.'

'My invention relates to partitions, curtains, and like closuresof the flexibly connected slat type, and particularly rolling closuresor partitions. Y

The principal objects are to provide for mounting the roller so that it will automati- Cally shiftin response to the varying weight imposed upon it in the coiling and uncoiling of the slats; to provide for movement of the closure in a vertical plane and unencumbered or devoid'of weight or friction other than of itself; to provide for utilizing the force of thelifting springs to automatically pull the closure towards or away from the wall opening to ensure the necessary space for the coils; to provide means efiective-as the tension on said springs is proportionately relieved to permit the rollermounting to swing away from the opemng; to provide for compensating movement by means actnism; to providefor compact rolling of the closure by means incorporated therein to compensate for expansion and contraction of Fig. 2 is an end view of the roller sus-.

pension mechanism.

Figs. 3 and dare modifications of the roll-. er suspension mechanism.

Fig.5 is a longitudinal modification showing the roller and its mounting, with the winding springs inde-. pendent of the roller.

ture, Fig. 5; and v Fig. 7 atransverse section showing a preferred embodlment for compensatlng for expansion and contractlon of the slats.

v .50 v The numeral 5 represents the roller shaft' 111g independently of the winding mechasectional view of a- Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the structerminally supported by arms 6 the. upper ends of whichare pivotally attached to members 7. The latter may be independent I brackets or they may constitute structural parts of the .main housing or casing which may be in the opening in the building. In

any event, they'define the limits of the coil space. While the rollermay be as usual it. is a merit of the invention that it is em bodied, as shown in Fig. 1, in sections '8 spaced apart, as at 9, and equipped with'a lifting spring, as 10. The roller units may have an abutment or easer extension 11 to promote even winding of the curtain. Y Intermediate. the pivotalarms and the refixedly secured to the roller shaftand represented in Figs. 1 and'2 in the form of segmental pulleysQ They might, however, be of any otherform calculated to perform the desired function which is to insure a yielding orv compensatingrestraint on the roller mounting and permit the latter to adapt spectiveend roller sectionsare elements 12 V;

itself torva rying diameters of coils on the;

roller. in-the raising and lowering of the flexibly joined slatted structure. purposejeach ofthe elements 12 has secured to it, as at 13, one endof a strap or band l l, the

other. end of which isanchored, asat 15, to, for'example, the bracket 7. 'W hen the shutter or closure is fully. down, [the springs For this which supply the lifting force are at their greatest tension. The effect of this is to cause I are now taut. .As the shutter rises, the ten-' sion on the lifting'springs is proportionately relieved and the segmental pulleys are permitted to unwind a small portion ofthe straps "14 and thereby enable the arms 6 to the pivotal ar-ms. 6 to swing on their pivots towards the'front of the coil space. This tendency is restrained by the straps l which retreat in order to provide the necessary space required for the additional coils of. the shutter.

It-is to be understood that the elements 12 aresecured to the roller shaft, and that when. the shutter is'in lowered position the springs;

permitted by the straps 14, in an anticlockv10. are at a maximum tension. This. insures that'the elements 12 are held at their-limit, as

unwinding the strap 14, and permitting the shutter roller to swing to the rear of the coil space, that is to the right in Fig. 2. The. re..-

lations are balanced, and the movement described is permitted in direct proportion to thewinding up or raising of the shutter.

Figs. 3'and A show variable mountings for the roller which will enable it to shift in the coil space to compensate for large or small coils. In Fig. 3, the roller carrying arms 16 are pivoted, as at 17, below and substantially in line with the roller shaft. They have angular offsets 18 which are forwardly directed and serve to carry one end of a coiled sprii'ig 19, the other end 20 being secured b0 the adj acent bracket. Manifestly, as thus arranged,

the springs 19 exert their maximum pull when the partition is down. When the partition or shutter is about two-thirds up practically all tension is off the springs and their relatively long terminal loops 21 are free to slide back and forth. In Fig. 4, the roller carrying arms 22 are pivoted, as at 23, in front of the center of gravity of the roller and have rearwardly directed extensions 24 to accommodate the coiled springs 25, the opposite ends of which are secured to the brackets. With the partition hung in this manner and the springs 25 at an angle to the horizontal,

the springs are always active and little effort relatively speaking is requiredto hold the partition to the groove. 7

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, the coiling roller 26 is free of winding springs; To pro vide for this condition, I prefer to form the roller shaft carrying arms 27 with integral spring barrels 28. The shaft is journaled freely in the arms 27 and may be operated in any suitable way to wind the springs 29 which are secured, respectively, toiit and to the barrels. The arms 27 are pivoted near 7 the bottom of the coil space and byproviding 'arcuate slots 30 in the ends't-hereof to accommodatethe shaft, the roller mounting is afforded the necessary back and forth COHIPQIL sating movement to take care of different size coils. 1

Fig. 7 shows a simple expedient-t0 compensate for expansion and contraction of the slats and to overcome any tendency to buckling. Adjoining slats 31 and 82 are provided with half housings 33 in confronting relay tion to admit'of spring provisions 3%. The llustratlon indicates the permissible relative spreading of the slats to insure flush coiling.

The action of the forces concerning the operation of the pivot brackets 6 which cause the shaft and shutter to move in the arc of a circle to and from the wall while the shutter is closing and opening respectively may be better understood by a study of Fig. 2.

Let W =the weight of the uncoiled part of shutter.

r=the radius or distance from center of shaft to center line of shutter.

R=the radius or distance from the center of shaft to the center line of tension cable 14.

F=the restraining force acting'through' r 14, exerted by the spring.

T =torque in spring Then equilibrium of forces around the shaft will exist when W T=RF=T.

It must be considered that as the shutter uncoils the weight WV increases and increases the torque, therefore the moment RF can be no greater at any time than the moment 0W. Each is maximum when the shutter is closed as shown in Fig. 2, and minimum when the shutter is completely opened.

These forces would also exist if the shaft were mounted in stationary brackets, but in this invention the shaft is mounted in swinging brackets 6, and permits of further use of" the forces of gravity and of the lifting or counterbalance spring.

In this case let lV=ther combined weight of shutter shaft and springs, always constant.

Z=length of moment arm normal to N.

F=restraining force acting through 14. L=moment arm normal to F, and maximumYwhen the arm 6 approaches a vertical position.

Equilibrium in this case is expressed by VIZ=FL,

The operation of the system is as follows; 7 In its present position, Fig. 2, the shutter is closed completely and I is maximum, also the spring is charged to the maximum and the force F constrained by 14 isv maxi.- mum. In this position the moment arm L is at its minimum length and the moment arm 'Z 1s of maximum length.

As the shutter is opened (raised) thespring torque decreases and eounterbalances the uncoiled part of't'he shutter. This decrease of torque consequently reduces the force F thereby reducing the moment FL; But the weight W has not changed, consequently the moment VVZ would be greater than FL. This condition cannotexist as equilibrium offorces is upset, so the weight W acting downward causes the pivot brackets 6 to swing toward the vertical, thereby reducing the moment arm Z until the moment WZ is again equal to FL. But, the pivot bracketst cannot swing unless the sheave 12 turns to permit sufficient unwinding of 14. This unwinding may be considered as a simultaneous recharging of the spring effective to maintain the variable moments WZ'and FL always equal wall. 7 It is the fact that the spring force has reduced, thereby reducing FL and consequently W drops down reducing Z until VVZ=FL. The opposite occurs when the shutter is uncoiled. Evidently, the forces act practically instantaneously.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. The combination of a coil space, a cursuch roller, said meansbeing held against roller compensating movement under full tension of'the lifting spring and permitting roller compensating movement as the tension of the lifting spring is relieved.

7 Thecombination of a slatted closure, a roller on which the closure is to be coiled in raising the closure, a lifting spring for operating the roller in closure-raising movement, means-whereby the roller is permitted a bodily movement to compensate for the wound closure,'and means controlled by the tension of the lifting spring'to permit bodily move-- ment of the roller as the closure is'wound thereon and the tension of the lifting is relieved.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN CAI-TILL.

sprlng tain operating roller therein, a shaft on Y which said roller is fixedly mounted, shaft supports, andsprings mounted in the shaft supports.

v2. The combination of a coil space, a curtain operating. roller therein, a shaft on which said roller is fixedly mounted, means supporting the shaft whereby the roller is p bodily movable with relation to the front of the'coil space, and means controlled by the I curtain-operating movement of the roller defining the extent of suchmovement.

3. The combination of a coil space, a cur tain operating roller therein, a shaft on which said roller is fixedly mounted, shaft supports, including integral spring barrels, and springs secured relatively to the shaft and barrels.

4E. Thecombination of a curtain operating roller having shaft extensions,piv0tal supports for the shaft extensions, and lifting springs carried by said supports and securedv thereto and to the shaft extensions.

5. The combination of a slatted closure, a roller on which said closure is coiled, a lifting spring for the roller for coiling the closure thereon, pivotal supports for the roller to permit bodily movement thereof, said supports permitting bodily compensating movement of the roller under relieved tension of the lifting spring as the closure is coiled on the roller.

6. The combination of a slatted closure, a roller on which the closure is to be wound,

' a lifting springrfor operating the roller to wind the closure thereon, and means for supporting the roller for bodily movement. to compensate for the coiling of the closure on 

